Foreign direct investment and the undertow of history: Nationhood and the influence of history on the Czech-German relationship.

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, the Czechs have received considerable foreign direct investment from Germany. But the historical relationship between the Czechs and Germans has long been a difficult one. The legacy of the past still overshadows the relationship between the Czech Republic and Germany even after the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union. The article examines how Czech managers in a joint venture with a German organization drew upon narratives and metaphors of the history of their relationship and historical stereotypes of German behaviour rather than economic explanations to understand and explain their experience of a failed joint venture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]